Computer users are able to access and share vast amounts of information through various local and wide area computer networks including proprietary networks as well as public networks such as the Internet. Typically, a web browser installed on a user's computing device facilitates access to and interaction with information located at various network servers identified by, for example, associated uniform resource locators (URLs). Modern web browsers often feature intuitive graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that enable users to easily navigate from one website or webpage to another in pursuit of information the user desires.
While modern web browsing software has revolutionized the manner in which users approach information retrieval over a network, many limitations remain with conventional web browsing software. By way of example, among these limitations is the relative inability of a user to contribute and share meaningful personal or user-generated content to contacts and associates over a network without such functionality being built-in to a particular website or web application itself. Conventional approaches to enable sharing of user-generated content include various information sharing technologies or platforms such as web logging or blogging typically enabled in the form of blogging websites (e.g., www.blogger.com), wiki sites that allow user collaboration (e.g., Wikipedia™), and social networking websites (e.g., websites linked with applications enabling users to view “profiles” created or customized by other users utilizing standardized templates where visibility and interaction with such profiles by other users is governed by some characteristic set of “social rules”). These and other conventional platforms only allow or enable a user limited capability in sharing personalized user-generated content, such as his or her views, opinions, reactions, or feedback, with other users having access to the same network or websites. By way of example, access to a user's views or other personalized content is generally limited to authorized users of a particular website and further limited to the content of the particular website. Hence, a user's ideas or contributions are effectively walled off from content residing on other websites.